Preventive Medicine Physicians

What the job really is

Apply knowledge of general preventive medicine and public health issues to promote health care to groups or individuals, and aid in the prevention or reduction of risk of disease, injury, disability, or death. May practice population-based medicine or diagnose and treat patients in the context of clinical health promotion and disease prevention.

At a glance

• Sector: Healthcare Practitioners
• O*NET-SOC code: 29-1229
• O*NET job zone: 5 — extensive preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• Direct or manage prevention programs in specialty areas such as aerospace, occupational, infectious disease, and environmental medicine.
• Document or review comprehensive patients' histories with an emphasis on occupation or environmental risks.
• Identify groups at risk for specific preventable diseases or injuries.
• Perform epidemiological investigations of acute and chronic diseases.
• Supervise or coordinate the work of physicians, nurses, statisticians, or other professional staff members.
• Design or use surveillance tools, such as screening, lab reports, and vital records, to identify health risks.
• Direct public health education programs dealing with topics such as preventable diseases, injuries, nutrition, food service sanitation, water supply safety, sewage and waste disposal, insect control, and immunizations.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of prescribed risk reduction measures or other interventions.
• Provide information about potential health hazards and possible interventions to the media, the public, other health care professionals, or local, state, and federal health authorities.
• Teach or train medical staff regarding preventive medicine issues.
• Coordinate or integrate the resources of health care institutions, social service agencies, public safety workers, or other organizations to improve community health.
• Prepare preventive health reports, including problem descriptions, analyses, alternative solutions, and recommendations.

Tools and technology

Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, R, SAS, The MathWorks MATLAB, Automated blood pressure cuffs, Automated external defibrillators AED, Biostatistical software, Breathing protection equipment

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Emergency Medicine Physicians
• General Internal Medicine Physicians
• Family Medicine Physicians
• Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians
• Pediatricians, General
• Obstetricians and Gynecologists
• Cardiologists
• Allergists and Immunologists

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 5 (extensive preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

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Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Preventive Medicine Physicians — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.